Backyard Homes

The side walls have been treated as vertical extension of the horizontal surface of the garden, and are used for growing climbers such as jasmine, grapes, honeysuckle, raspberries, beans, peas, and even a climbing fig. Colorful bird’s houses and bug hotels are also mounted on the walls.

Set behind the couple’s Silver Lake home, the two-story structure has a crisp white board–and–batten exterior.

Facade from interior patio

A new addition to Sea Ranch’s enclave of utopian homes, this structure (and the separate guesthouse seen here) clad in rough concrete and Cor-ten steel seamlessly blends in with its half-a-century-old California neighbors. Designed by the dean of the Woodbury School of Architecture and the head of the University of Oregon’s architecture department, its spaces flow into one another underneath an angled plywood ceiling and illuminate built-in furniture crafted from vertical-grain Douglas fir.

Phoenix design-build firm The Construction Zone renovated an old concrete-and-steel barn, turning it into a sleek new guesthouse with an open-plan, three-room layout. Completed for approximately $300,000, the 790-square-foot adaptive reuse project carefully preserves the character of the existing structure while upgrading it to match the modern aesthetic of the main residence.

A dilapidated garage in Los Angeles becomes a whimsical backyard dwelling.

Best Practice added a new roof but kept the existing siding. A fresh coat of paint helps the casita pop, and a new window opening next to the entrance frames a new kitchenette inside.

After - rear windows

The goal was to turn the space into a guest suite that “feels like an out of body experience; a Willy Wonka vacation hideaway,” says the designer, who now lives in the ADU

Garcia clad the ADU’s exterior with a local Texas limestone, similar in color and texture to the main house, “just to tie the two together visually,” says the architect.

ADU: Building shape and material become identity Turfstone pavers laid in herringbone pattern and it generates natural edges for the landscape. The gravels contrast with the pattern. Functionally, the turfstone permeable paver allows rainwater to be gradually filtered back into the soil naturally, resulting in the control and stabilization of soil erosion. The volume initiated from a minimum length of overhang by the code is created into an angled geometry. It is attractive and functional.

Nashville resident Kelli Hix added a 500-square-foot guest apartment onto the back of her 1930s bungalow.

The walls, roof, floors, and foundation of Northwood ADU are all prefab. T+E+A+M selected the building materials based on their production and panel sizes to minimize waste and increase efficiency. The choices also take snowfall and its impact on maintenance into consideration.

With a clever arrangement comprising a cottage and a primary residence, local design firm ORA gives a family outdoor access at every turn.

Studio Approach